Threading machine



Aug. 24, 1943. J. M. HOTHERSALL THREADING MACHINE Filed Dec. 24. 1941 10 Sheets-Sheet 1 R! Y m M N R E O vrw NI. W 0 J M n M Aug. 24, 1943. J. M. HOTHERSALL 2,327,428

THREADING MACHINE v Filed Dec. 24, 1941. i 10 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR j ATTORNEY Aug. 24, 1943. J. M. HOTHERSALL THREADING MACHINE Filed Dec. 24, 1941 10. Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. fa/zn 1% flaffiersa ll ATTORNEY vAug. "24, 1943. J. M. HOTHERSALL THREADING MACHINE Filed Dec. 24, 1941 10 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEY 10 Sheets-Sheet 5 *ATTORNEY Aug. 24, 1943. J. M. HOTHERSALL THREADING MACHINE Fild Dec. 24, 1941 a v 10 1 1 a 5 M 5 w w v 2 a m a I!!! 5 W h 3 4 0 1 5 m w M;

1 ,m m k M 1 I] a 1 w w. 1 1, M

Aug. 24, 1943. J. M. HOTHERSALL THREADING MACHINE Filed Dec. 24, 1941 10 Sheets-Sheet 6 Hm u m". mam

INVENTOR .l/m 1% Jalfienml/ ATTORNEY J. M. HOTHERSALL 2,32 7,428

THREADING MACHINE Aug. 24, 1943.

Filed Dec. 24, 1941 10 Sheets-Sheet '7 "NIH INVENTOR M ATTORNEY Aug. 24, 1943.

J. M. HOTHERSALL THREADING MACHINE Filed Dec. 24. 1941, 10 Sheets-Sheet 8 ATTORNEY Aug. 24, 1943; J. M. HOTHERSALL THREADING MACHINE 7 Filed Dec. 24, 1941 10 Sheets-Sheet 9 INVENTOR John M ifaihzrsa/Z BY W ATTORN EY Aug. 24, 1943.

J. M. HOTHERSALL THREADING MACHINE Filed Dec. 24, 1941 10 Sheets-SheetlO INVENTOR fa/g; 1Z7 f/a/fimsa/l W ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 24, 1943 John M. Hothersall, Brooklyn, N.; Y., ;assignor to E. J Brooks Company, Newark, N. J a corpora-- tion anew Jersey Application December 24, 1941, Serial No. 424,375 r 13 Claims.

This invention relates to threading devices and has for its main object and 'feature the production of means for automatically threading a double strand into and reversely back through one or more sealing elements in a rapid and eificient manner, r r i In the accompanying'drawings the invention is shown in a concrete and preferred form in which: i V p Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the device, partly in section, substantially on the planeof line l'--l ofFig. 2; V

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view substantially on the plane of line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a verticalsectional View substantially on the plane of line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4; is a vertical sectional detail view substantially on the plane of line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig; 5 is a bottom plan view of the device as it would appear when the bed-plateis swung on its trunnions and isbrought intoan inverted position with its bottom uppermost; except for the fact that said bed-plate has been'inverted, the view would be the same as one looking in the direction of arrow 5 of Fig. 2; a i

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional detail View substantially on the plane of lineB-B of Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is a somewhat fragmentary sectional view substantially on Fig. 19;

Figs. 8 to 13 inclusive are detail sectional views substantially on the plane of the correspondingiy marked section lines of Fig. 7;

Figs. 14 to 17 inclusive are diagrammatic perspective views showing various stages in threading the strand through the seal and guard;

Fig. 18 is a top plan view of the gearing shown n Fig. l \vith'certain parts omitted and broken away;

Fig. 19 is a sectional view substantially on the plane of line l9 l9 of Fig. 18; i

Fig. 20 is a 'sectionalview substantially on the plane of line 2fl2i3 ofFig. 19; a

Figs. 21 and 22 are views substantially similar to Fig. 20 but showingthe parts atdifferent stages of operation; and

Fig. 23 is a plan View looking substantially in the direction of arrow 23 of Fig. 19, with the supporting gin'des in open position, the seal being indicated in dotted lines, and the guard in filll lines.

Attention is first directed to Fig. 17 which shows a sealing means such as is disclosed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,163,660 'of June 27, 1939. fIhe sealing means here'consist of a perthe plane of line1'l of 0 itssubsequent movement. catory member or carrier that engages themid dle portion of the strand and by reason of a retroforated-member I of compressiblernaterial such as lead, and'a perforated so-called gripping and severing member or guard 2 of non-compressible material such as sheet steel; but, if desired, mem ber 2 can be omitted. The strand; such as ra flexible'cord of fibrous material, is indicatedat 3. In th'e art, as heretofore practiced, the threading of the strand through the sealing means has been accomplished manually, and the problem of performing'theoperation automatically is alongstanding one. The present invention solves this problem.

It will facilitate the explanation and unders'ta nding of the machine that is to be presently described if the major stages of operation are considered at this point, and for;this' purpose Figs. 14 to 17 inclusive will befutiliz ed. v

' Sealing means I or I and 2 being placed in position in the machine, strandflis fed into the device (Fig'. 14) in a direction at right anglesto 4 indicates a reciprograde movement away from seal I causes said strand 3 to be brought'into contact with feeding rollers 5, which latter'at this time arerotating in'the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 15,

whereby the strand is formed into an open loop L or double strand with its free endsLpointing toward seal I. The direction of rotation of rollers 5 is now reversed and carrier 4 advances toward and up to seal I bringing the double strand into engagementwithie eding rollers 6 that are rotating'in thesame direction as rollers 5. jI'he free ends L" of the strand are thereby threaded through outer openingslof seal 1 and through outer openings 8 of guard 2. From thence one endof the strand passesaround roller 9 and the other end of the strand passes around roller l0 (Fig. 16). Rollers 9 and ID are coaxial and rotate in opposite directions so that the free ends of the strand are reversed to form two reverse dischargedfrom the machine.

Having now obtained an understanding of what is accomplished by the invention, the mechanism utilized in carrying out theinvention will be described.- 1 a I i The'deviceas a whole (Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive) 1s carried by a bed-plate or main support 13 and, as V operating parts are carried on both the upper and lower surfaces of said bed-plate, it is, in order to make all parts readily accessible for repair or adjustment, mounted to swing on trunnion or pivots I4 of framework I5 whereby either surface of said bed-plate can be brought uppermost. Suitable latching means, such as pin I6 that can be brought into bushings I! of the bed-plate, serve to hold said bed-plate in either ,of its ,ppsitions. l8 indicates a mainshaft from Whlchsthe motion of the various parts 'is derived, and'this shaft can be operated from any suitable source of power such as motor H! by means of a belt or otherwise.

Strand 3 can be fed from any suitable source such as a reel (not shown) and is threadedadja cent underside I 3a of bed-plate'fl (Figs..5 and '6) 115 through opening 20, between strand supply rollers went ofcanrier 4, channel}; being interrupted lat 23a -(se.e Big. 23) to allow carrier A te pass.

path oflmovement of carrier 4 and between roll- .ers ,5 ,and; ,S. r The supply rollers are driven intermittently by the ,fQllQWillg means; Supply ,rol-l- .ers 12,4 carry ,intemneshing pinions 2'4, and one of these pinions meshes with a gear 25 which latter isintermittently turned bysa ,gear sector .26 car- ,r'ied by rotatable shaft .-I.-8. .Mounted to rotate with gear 25 is a disc 27 having a notch-.28 ,and adapted to engage with ,said notch-is one armifia of a hell-crank 29 pivotall y supported at 30,, the {other arm .or said bellecrank having a cam zroll .SJ .toengagecam .32 mounted to rotate with shaft I3. A spring 33 tends tourgecamroll 31 against cam 32, It will-now .be apparent that rotation of shaft J8 will cause cam .32 to move arm ZSaout of engagement with notch 28 thereby releasing gear .25 for rotation. Gear sector .26 now engages ,gear 25 rotating same and carryinghotch 8 b yond the point where arm 2.9a .can engage said match when bellHcrank 29 ,is released by cam 35!.

when I gear zihas made one complete revolution,

gear sector .25 will disengage said gear 25 and arm 28a will again enter notch :28 under the influence of spring 33 thereby acting a an indexing mechanism, (and gear 2.5 and supply roller 21 -.wil;1 remain stationary during-the remainder :QI the rev tolutioniofgeaawsector 216..

Suitable means are provided to severa'length of strand 3 :from the source (of supply. in ,the present instance, these means takethe tollowing for-m: 34 indicates a knife carried by "lever ,35 1

piyotarlly supponted at 3-5 and having ponnected thereto {a second arm 31 having a cam oll 3.8 to engage cam :33 conVenientlyeanried by gear sector 2?, A .springM tends to urge the kmi out of severing position. The parts are so timed that when the strand comes t rest, after having been cfed .across the device, cam .39 engages cam .roll 88 ito actuate sevening hniieofl ,against the tension of spning 40. it will :be se en that sever- ,ing f the strand {takes place :at a point between 'channel lisernes to sustain the strand :across the each other, into and out of contact. In the present instance, said guide supports are provided with cam rollers 44 that extend into cam slots 45 of a reciprocatory cam 46 (Figs. 3, 4 and 5), which cam is carried by reciprocatory post 4! slidably mounted in the base-plate and actuated by cam 48, on shaft I8, by means of a lever 49. Said lever 49 is pivoted at 50 and car eries;at one end a cam roll 5! engaging cam 48 and is pivotally connected at its other end by means of links 52 to post 47. It will be apparent that, when cam 45 is in the position shown in 171 5.4, cam rollers 44 are close together and that therefore the guide supports are in their closed position, that is, in contact lengthwise, and that, when-said cam 45 is moved down, the guide supports will be in their open position, ;that is: spread apart (Fig. 23). The guide supports, when in their closed position, sustain seal I and guard 2 (see for example Figs. 19 and 20) and, when separated, allow the threaded seal assemblage to -.be discharged, Suitable means are provided to automatically feed seal I and guard 2 into position on the guide supports which, in

. e present instance, take the following form: Mounted above supportingblock 43b g see particularly Figs. 1,6,8, '18 and 23) is a hopper 53, containing-a stack of seals 1, and this'hopper is continued through a chute 54, in supporting block I31), that extends the entire distance 1110 the lower face thereof and'to supporting guide 4| so that the lowermost seal I in the stack rests on an extension 14m of said supporting guide 4| when the supporting guides are .in-rtheir open position. 55 indicatesa feedingand cut-off-member slidable in slot 130 of the supporting block and havinga pin lid extending into @a'slot 4|!) of supporting uide 4!. said member .55 is at vone si e of opening 5Il--'when the supporting guid s are in their open :position and .actsto push .the lowermost seal {I into threading position halfway across; each supporting guide, when said supporting- ,guides move into. their closed position, :and to cutoff and support #the remainder of the stack of seals. 'When thesupporting guides .again'moveinto open position, another seal drops into position on extension am of supporting guide '43,." Guards 2 are stacked in a hopper :55, mountedjon supporting block I32), that is continued by means of a chute 51 (Fig. 19) that exte ds Clear through to the lower face thereof and tcupporting guides 41 and 42, so that the lowermost guard ,2 occupies ;a position straddling supporting uides when .the latter are in .ths irplosed position. 58"indicates a dog pivotally support-ed at 5.13 On supporting .block 13b, and 60 is ,a sp also on said supporting block, that liS'ItD say. ate move -;them toward :and rawayz jrom @72 tendeto urge projection 61 of said dog into engagement with the next to the lowermost guard .2 in said opening 157. "Dog '58 has a cam face 62 that engages a pin 83 on supporting guide 42 said supporting guides are in their closed position to overcome tension of spring 69 and moye projection 61 out of engagement with a guard member :2. It will now 'be seen that, when the supporting guides move into their closed. position, dog 5,8 will permit the stack of guards 2 to ,d op-a distance equal to the height of a guard 7 gerebyplacing the "lowermost of said guards on supporting guides, and that, when said supporting guides are in their open position, said dog :58 will hold thethen lowermost guard 2 ,and thereby the whole stack of guards. Thus the ;feeding of both seal l and guard 2 is controlled by the opening and closing movement of said supporting guides 4| and 42. The opening movement of said supporting guides will also tend to discharge the threaded seal assemblage out of the machine but, if desired, ejecting means can be employed which, here, take the follow ing form: Carried by post 41 is a bracket 64, which not only supports cam 45 but also ejectors 65 and 65. Ejector 65' consists here of a group of three rods that descend through openings 61, and ejector 66 is a single rod that descends through opening 68, in supporting block I3b when cam 45 descends to open'the supporting guides, said rods striking difierent parts of the threaded seal assemblage to make sure of its removal'from the operating parts of the machine.

It now being understood how the strand of flexible material 3 as well as seal I and guard 2 are introduced into, and how the threaded seal assemblage is removed from, the machine, I shall proceed to a description of the'threading mechanism.

A suitable loop-forming and threading mechanism including feeding and guiding means is located adjacent one end of the seal in position to be threaded. These means havealready been alluded to and consist here, generally, of reciprocatory carrier 4 and, two sets of feeding rollers 5 and 6. Reciprocatory carrier 4 ismounted on a slide 69 guided in supporting block I3b above supporting guides 4| and 42. (See particularly Figs. 3, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20and 23. Note well that Figs. 14, 15 and 16 are diagrammatic views in perspective looking from the bottom of the device in an upward direction.) Slide 69 is actuated by any suitable meanssuch as double-face cam Ill on shaft I8, with'one cam face II of which cam roll "I2 engages, said cam roll being carried-by slide 69. Carrier 4 isprovided with two upstanding division walls I3 and outer ledges I4,-the latter in alinement with openings I of the seal, and reciprocates between the members of two sets of rollers 5 and 6. Said rollers 5 and 5 are mounted on shafts 15,15, TI and I8 carried by supporting block I3b and suitable gearing is provided for rotating them first in one direction and then in the other. As here shown, the gearing used in the present instance is asfollowsf '19 indicates a gear sector mounted on an arm jBU that oscillates on shaft 8|, the oscillating movement be ing conveniently derived from cam face 82, of

double-face cam I; by means of cam roll 83. Gear sector I9 engages with the upper half of a double-width pinion B4 on shaft I3, which in turn has its lower halfin mesh with an intermediate pinion 85 that engages pinion 85 On shaft I1.

Gear sector I9 also engages the upper half of a second double-width pinion 8I,'which is an intermediate pinion, the lo'werhalf of which drives pinions 88 and 39 on shafts I and 16. As shown, shafts I5, 16,11 and 18 extend clear throughsupporting block I3b and carry the pinions described above, and the feed rollers5 and 6 below, said supporting block. Gear sector 19 is in constant mesh with pinions and 81 and by its oscillating movement turnssaid pinions and'thus the entir train of gears connected therewith alternately in opposite directions. Rollers 5 and '6 are located in the same plane as strand-3, as is carrier 4. At the beginning of the looping and threading operation, carrier 4 occupies the position indicated in Figs. 14, 19 and 20, that is, between strand 3 and sealI, and said strand extends between rollers 5 and 6 but is-not in engagement with said rollers. Carrier 4 nowhegins its retrograde movement, that is, in a direction away from seal I. The retrograde movement of carrier 4 pushes strand 3 into the beginning of a loop and brings portions of said strand be? tween division or guide walls I3 and rollers 5, said portions resting on ledges I4. Rollers 5 are at this time rotating in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 15 and, by their action on strand 3 against division walls I3 as guides, feed the entire strand into loop L with the free ends L pointing toward the seal (Figs. 15 and 21). Carrier 4, afterpausing, reverses its movement and advances until it comes in abutting contact with the seal and with ledges I4 in alinement with openings I of the seal, after which said carrier pauses. Rollers 5 and Bare nowrotating in a direction the reverse of that previously existing, and free ends L are therefore threaded through openings I of the seal and openings'8 of guard 2 by the coaction of rollers 6 and division or guide walls I3 of carrier 4 and this feeding movement continues durin the operation of reversing and ,rethreading the strand back through the guard and sea1'(Figs.,l6 and 22), an operation to be presently described.

A reversing and rethreading device is located adjacent the other end of seal I from that at which the loop-forming and threading device is located and, in case a second sealing member such as guard 2 is also to bethreaded, at a place beyond the point where said guard is supported. Revers ing rollers 9 and ill, that, in association with guiding means hereinafter referred to, act to feed and reverse free ends L of loop L and to create reverse loops L and L o-fstrand 3, are located in'superposed and coaxial relation, and one of said rollers rotates in one directionLWhile, at the same time, the other rollerrotates in the opposite direction. Reference will now particularly be made to Figs. 7 vto16 inclusive, I8, IQQZG, 2| and Reversing roller ID i imounted on an inner shaft and reversing roller 9 is mounted on a sleeve shaft 9 I, both of said shafts being suitably supported in supporting .block I31). Motion for driving shafts 90 and SI is conveniently derived from gear. sector 19, by way of double-width pinion 81 as follows: The upperhalf of double-width pinion 8T meshes with a pinion 92that drives gear 93 meshing'with another gear 94 which latter, in turn, drives pinion 95 on shaft 99. The lower half of double-width pinion 81, as previously described, meshes with pinion 89 on shaft '15; and said pinion '89 drives pinion 96, which latter drives gear-9'! (coaxial with gear 93 but mounted to rotate independently thereof), and said gear 9'! drives gear 93 (coaxial with gear 94 but mounted to. rotate independently thereof),

which gear 98 drives pinion 99 on sleeve shaft 9|. From the foregoing it will appear that, by reason of the interposition of an additional intermediate pinion 9B in one of the two trains of gears described, rollers 5 and ill will rotate simultaneously in directions opposite to each other. It has been pointed out previously that gear sector I9 has an oscillat ng motion so that rollers 5 will Ice-driven first in one direction and then in the other. The same is, of course, true of rollers 9 and) but, as said rollersil and It only act on the strand during a part of the cycle of the machine and always during th same part of said cycle, their direction of rotationwill always be correct during the period they are engaging the strand; Supporting block I3?) is provided, inter mediate the point wher seal I is located and rollers 9. and It are situated, with a guide sectionindicated generally by the reference character I00. This guide section has a main separating or guiding wall IM and two-subsidiary sep'arating or guiding'walls I02 and: H13, and all three walls are intersected by opening 51 through which guards 2' are fed. The walls aforesaid form four euideways I534, Hi5, I06 and I91, two of which, 564 and H11, are in line with openings 1 of seal I and with openings 8 of guard 2, and the other two of which, I65 and I06, are in line with openings IE or seal 3 and opening II of guard-2. G uideway E64 curves outwardly and is inclined upwardly (as viewed-in Fig. 10) at point its so as to brin one free end L of the strand loop from the plane of one of openings 8 of guardz into the plane ofroller 9, andguideway we curves inwardly and is inclined downwardly (as viewed in Fig. 10) atpo-int I99 from the plane of roller 5 to the plane of opening II of guard 22. Guideway IB'Lat point H9, curves outwardly and is inclined downwardly (as viewed in Fig. from the plane of the other opening 8 in guard 2 so as to bring the other free end L of the strand loop into the plane of roller l0, and guideway H35 curves inwardly and is inclined upwardly, at point IH (as Viewed in Fig. 10) from the plane of roller id to that of opening II of guard 2. Guide supports 4! and 42 are provided with semi-circular faces H2, adjacent rollers 9 and it, having (as viewed in Figs. 12 and 13) upper and lower segmental-shape guideways I i3 and Ibiseparated by an intervening ledge H5, that direct one freeend L of the strand loop from guideway use, around roller 9, back to guideway Hit, and the other free end L of the strand loop from guideway, It's, around roller Ii), back to guideway me. One free end. L of the loop strand therefore passes fromone opening '5 of seal I through guideway 56%,. one opening 80f guardv 2, over incline m8, through guideway H3 around roller 9, over. incline I 09,-through opening I I of guard 2, through guideway'lflfi, through one of theopenings I2 of seal .I and into the center compartment .I I6 of reciproc'atory carrier.

4.' At the same time, the other free end L of the loop strand passes from the other opening] of seal i through guideway Iill, the other opening 8 of guardd, over inclined I Hi, through guide way Il-laround roller ill, over incline III, through opening I I of guard 2, through guideway I115, through the other opening I2 of seal I and into the center compartment l i 6 of reciprocatory carrier a The feeding of the loop strand to effect the reversing and rethreading thereof is accomplished by rotation of rollers E5 and Ill, but it will be understood that rollers 6 also continue to feed said strand, first, so that the free ends of thestrand loop may reach said rollers 9 and I 9 later, to assist said rollers 9 and lil to propel said free ends. Boilers 6, 9 and I0, as well as rollers 5 andfii, are provided with spikes or teeth as indicated at i ii that engage and advance the strand.

The general operation of the device is as follows:

Strand 3 of flexible material is fed into vthe machine by means of rollers and, as support ing guides i! and 42 move into engagement, seal i and guard 2 are brought into threading position. Carrier 4 moves rearwardly away from the seal and brings the strand into the bite of rollers 5 which act to form said strand into an open loop .L. Carrier l reverses its motion and moves toward the seal and, by means of rollers 5 and 6, whose direction of rotation has been re versed, the free ends L are threaded through the seal and guard. The free ends L of the loop are now brought into engagement with rollers 5 and Iii, reverse loops L and L are formed and free ends L nowreturn and are rethreaded. through the guard and seal. Supporting guides 4| and 42' move into open'position and ejectors 6-5 and 66 descend and eject the threaded seal assemblage.

I claim? I 1 1. In a threading machine, means to support aperforated sealing member through which a loopeddouble-endstrand is to be threaded and rethreaded, feeding and guiding means, arranged adjacent one end of said sealing member when in threading position, to thread. the free ends of the looped strand through said sealing member, and a combined-reversing and rethreading device, arranged adjacent the other end of said sealing member, including feeding and guiding means to reverse the direction of travel of said free ends of the threaded strand to thereby form two reverse loops the free, ends of which point back toward the sealing member and to rethread said free ends through the perforated sealing member.

2. In a threadingmachine, means to support a perforated sealing member through which a double-endstrand is to be threaded and re-- threaded, means to sustain-a strand of flexible material transversely of the sealing member, a combined loop-forming and threading device, arranged adjacent one end of-said'sealing member when in' threading position, including feeding and guiding means to convert the strand of flexible material into a U-shape loop with its free ends pointing toward the sealing member and to 'move said looped strand to thread said free ends through the perforated sealing member, and a combined reversing and rethreading device, arranged adjacent the other end of said sealing member, including feeding and guiding means to reverse the direction of travel of said freeends of the threaded strand to thereby form two reverse loops the free ends of which point back toward the sealing member -and to rethread said free ends through the perforated sealing member.

3. In a threading machine, means to support a perforated sealing member through which a double-end strand is to be threaded, a. reciprocatory carrier,having a path of movement toward and away from said sealing member, provided with supporting ledges, in alinement with'perforations of the sealing member, and with upstanding guide walls, two spaced apart sets of feed rollers the members of both of which are arranged at opposite sides of' the path of movement of said carrier, meansto-sustain a strand of flexible material intermediatethe two sets of rollers and across the path of movement of said carrier, means to move said carrier from a position adjacent the sealing member toward the strand to bringthe strand between the members of one set of feeding rollers, while they rotate in a direction to move the strand away from the sealing member, and the-upstanding walls of the carrier to thereby feed the strand into a loop the free ends of which rest on the ledges aforesaid and point toward the sealing member, and to thereafter move said carrier toward the sealing member and between the members of the other set of feeding rollers while the members of both sets of feeding rollers rotate ina direction to move the .free ends of the loop toward the sealing member, and transmission means to rotate themembers of the one set of feeding rollers first in one and then in the other direction, and to rotate the members of the other set of feeding r ollers to nitr c the free ends of the strand through the perforated sealing memperforated sealing member through which a looped double-end strand is' to be threaded and rethreaded, feeding and guiding means, arranged adjacent one end of said sealing member when in threading position, to thread the free ends of the looped strand through said sealing member, and a combined reversing and rethreading device, arranged adjacent the other end of said sealing member, including two coaxially arranged reversing rollers, means to simultaneously rotate said reversing rollers in opposite directions with respect to each other, guiding means having two superimposed curved guideways surrounding said reversing rollers, one at the level of one and the other at the level of the other of said reversing rollers, and inclined guides todirect one free end of the threaded strand from the sealing member in one direction into one of said guideways and back through the perforated sealing member and the other of said free ends of the threaded strand from' the sealing member in the other direction into the other of said guideways and back through the perforated sealing member.

5. In a threading machine, a supporting block, a pair of arms, arranged alongside of each other adjacent the lower face of said supporting block, to support on their upper faces a perforated sealing member through which the free ends of a looped strand are to be threaded and rethreaded, means to move said arms into and out of sidewise contact with each other, guiding and feeding means carried on the lower face of said block to thread the free ends of the looped strand through the perforated sealing member, feeding means to reverse the direction of the free ends of the threaded strand also carried by the block at its lower face, and segmental-shape guides carried by the arms to direct the free ends of the threaded strand in opposite and reverse directions back toward the perforated sealing member.

6. In a threading machine, a supporting block, a pair of arms, arranged alongside of each other adjacent the lower face of said supporting block, to support on their upper faces a perforated sealing member through which the free ends of a looped strand are to be threaded and rethreaded, means to move said arms into and out of sidewise contact with each other, guiding and feeding means carried on the lower face of said block to thread the free ends of the looped strand through the perforated sealing member, two coaxial reversing rollers to engage the strand carried by the block at its lower face, means to simultaneously rotate said reversing rollers in opposite directions with respect to each other, segmental-shape guides, having upper and lower guideways, on the arms to surround said reversing rollers when the arms are moved into contact with each other, and inclined guides on the lower face of said block to direct one free end of said threaded strand from'said sealing member toward one of said guideways and from the latter back toward the sealing member and to direct the other free end of said threaded strand away from said sealing member toward the other of said guideways and from the latter back toward the sealing member, to thereby rethread said free ends through the perforated sealing member.

7. In a threading machine in which a looped strand of fle'irible material is'tto be threaded through a perforated sealing member, a support- 1 ing block, a pair of arms movably supported alongside of each other on the lower face of" said supporting block, means to move said arms into and out of sidewise contact with each other, a chute, extending from the upper surface of said block to the lower face thereof, for the re-- ceptlon of sealing members, means controlled by the movement of one of said arms toward the? other to place a sealing member from said chute in a threading position straddling said arms, and means carried by the lower face of said up-- porting block to feed a strand through the perforated sealing member.

8. In a threading machine, a supporting block, a pair of arms, movably arranged alongside of each other adjacent the lower face of said block to support, when brought together, a perforated sealing member, through which the free ends of a looped strand are to be threaded to form a threaded seal assemblage, and, when separated, to discharge the threaded seal assemblage, and means to thread the free ends of a looped strand through the perforated sealing member whil the latter is supported on said arms.

9. In a threading machine, a supporting block, a pair of arms, movably arranged alongside of each other adjacent the lower face of said block to support, when brought together, a perforated sealing member, through which the free ends of a looped strand are to be threaded to form a threaded seal assemblage, and, when separated, to discharge the threaded seal assemblage, an ejector to engage the threaded seal assemblage; when the arms move away from each other, and means to thread the free ends of a looped strand through the perforated sealing member while the latter is supported on said arms.

10. In a threading machine, means to support in spaced relation two perforated sealing members through which a looped double-end strand is to be threaded and rethreaded, feeding and guiding means, arranged adjacent one end of one of said sealing members in threading position, to thread the free ends of the looped strand through said sealing members, a combined reversing and rethreading device, arranged adjacent the other end of said other sealing member in threading position, including feeding and guiding means to reverse the direction of travel of said free ends of the threaded strand to thereby form two reverse loops the free ends of which point back toward the sealing members and to rethread said free ends through the perforatedsealing members, and guides intermediate the two sealingv members to direct the free ends of the strand when passing in either direction between the two sealing members.

11. In a threading machine, a supporting block having two chutes extending therethrough from top to bottom, a pair of arms, arranged alongside of each other adjacent the lower face of said supporting block, to support a plurality of perforated sealing members in spaced relation supplied through said chutes, and means to thread the freeends of a looped strand through said perforated sealing members while they'are supported by said arms.

12. In a threading machine, feeding rollers and a reciprocatory carriage to act upon a looped strand to be threaded through a perforated sealing member, an oscillatory gear sector and a train of gears to drive the feeding rollers alternatively in opposite directions, a shaft; and means, car

ried by the shaft, and; connections to oscillate, saiq geare or and to ecip oca e-said arriage;

13, In a threading fma chine feeding rollers. and areciprocatory carxiagetp act upon agloopedfi strand to be, threaded-throu h. aperforatgulseal,- ing member, a, pair of. intermittently openating str and lsupply -rollers to feed; a'strand; to be acted,- up o n by said feed, rollers anical riep, an osoil atory. gear se r and; a; t n, f ee rsz rdnivej the feeding rollers. alternatively in opposite dito reciprocate saidcarriage and a. gear sector j mounted torotatewith-said. shaft and a trainofgears to, intermittently, rotate the strand: supply rollers. v

I J QHN: Ma HOFLHERSALL. 

